Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Uncategorized · 12th October 2007
Editor
By Jules S. Xavier
Record Staff
Oct 12 2007
After three years of entertaining theatre audiences in the Comox Valley and Campbell River, the Showcase Theatre Festival is expanding to include Cumberland.
That’s the word from Showcase Theatre Festival managing director Vincent Dupuis when he unveiled the 2008 season during a press conference held Tuesday at the former Cumberland Post Office.
“I see this as a huge opportunity for Cumberland,” said Dupuis. “We’re like Stratford 50 years ago. It was a small railway town, but did not have much history.”
That’s not the case for the Village of Cumberland, with a wealth of history from its coal mining days that is being turned into an original musical called Dancing In the Coal Dust. David Warrack is currently working on the second draft as the writer and composer. Jeff Hyslop will direct and choreograph.
“I’m amazed that the arts are catching on,” Hyslop told an attentive audience of the play that will be showcased in a 400-seat Arabesque tent on acreage behind Discovery College and across from the Abby Church.
“We’re going to start (the story) in Cumberland, not the east coast where we originally wanted to do. That was always my idea. This is a great story set to music … it’s a beautiful score.”
Hyslop acknowledged Dancing In the Coal Dust was always just a working title.
“We got used to it,” he said. “It’s got energy.”
Dancing In the Coal Dust will look at the rich, multi-cultural history of Cumberland and the life and times of Albert “Ginger” Goodwin.
This province’s mining industry was born in the coal fields of Vancouver Island, with the Cumberland mines among the most dangerous in Canada. The appalling conditions in the mines compelled the miners to organize and involve various unions.
Ginger Goodwin was a coal miner and union activist who lost his life under suspicious circumstances in July 1918.
“This is our West Coast version of Anne of Green Gables,” said Hyslop on the musical Dancing In the Coal Dust. “It’s telling a great story and it’s Canadian.”
The play will open during miner’s week in Cumberland for a five-week run. The sixth week of the production will be showcased at Campbell River’s Tidemark Theatre.
The musical will also use the historic ILO ILO theatre for rehearsal space and for the third year, now expanded to two weeks, Showcase’s Young People’s Theatre training program.
The Cumberland production will be integrated with Showcase’s normal repertory of two other productions — the play Our Town and the musical Hello Dolly! Both are by American playwright Thornton Wilder and will be shown in Campbell River and at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay.
“Everyone knows Our Town and Hello Dolly!,” said Hyslop. “Now we have a new work to complement them.”
Coinciding with the musical in Cumberland, artist Brian Scott gave Showcase organizers an idea that they have an artist’s walk involving local artists. There are 12 locations planned, according to Scott, but he expects there will be more visual artists from the village involved.
“We see this as a huge opportunity for Cumberland,” said Dupuis. “If it’s successful, then we’ll do it again.”
A similar artist’s walk was done on Hornby Island, said Scott.
“People can go on a search … it raised $60,000 for Hornby’s Little Arts Council. We can raise a lot of money for Showcase.”
He added, “The arts community (here) are very excited about this.”
The artist’s walk is an active display of creating new work around the historical sites of the village, many of which are included in Dancing In the Coal Dust. The artists will actually be working on the historic sites as part of a tourism and historical “walk” with incumbent map.
The works created by the visual artists will be on display in a gallery on the Showcase Theatre festival site and be available for purchase.
Dupuis likes the idea of adding Cumberland to the Showcase fold. He noted the mandate for Showcase is to operate a theatre company that includes professional performers, talented apprentices and community players.
“Our goal is to hold a world-class festival each summer with a unique approach that presents a variety of theatre productions,” he said. “Our ultimate objective is to develop into a full-fledged professional summer company that will perform several different shows over a season stretching from early June to late September.
“We plan to develop original works with the goal to include those in our season once they have been polished and are ready for production.”
As of Nov. 1, Showcase will begin its fundraising campaign as well as subscription sales, including a three-play package in advance, by direct mail.
• • •
Showcase has done its research when it comes to audience potential.
• An audience survey found the resident audience to be female, 60 and older, semi-retired, with a university education and income of $50,000-plus. While this sounds like the traditional theatre audience, Showcase believes there’s a whole new and exciting Comox Valley resident they have yet to touch.
• There is a further appeal to potential tourists of Asian origin, due to the “coal dust” subject matter and affinity to Anne of Green Gables on the East Coast. Showcase is looking at marketing to tour organizations to make the Comox Valley their destination.
Record Staff
Oct 12 2007
After three years of entertaining theatre audiences in the Comox Valley and Campbell River, the Showcase Theatre Festival is expanding to include Cumberland.
That’s the word from Showcase Theatre Festival managing director Vincent Dupuis when he unveiled the 2008 season during a press conference held Tuesday at the former Cumberland Post Office.
“I see this as a huge opportunity for Cumberland,” said Dupuis. “We’re like Stratford 50 years ago. It was a small railway town, but did not have much history.”
That’s not the case for the Village of Cumberland, with a wealth of history from its coal mining days that is being turned into an original musical called Dancing In the Coal Dust. David Warrack is currently working on the second draft as the writer and composer. Jeff Hyslop will direct and choreograph.
“I’m amazed that the arts are catching on,” Hyslop told an attentive audience of the play that will be showcased in a 400-seat Arabesque tent on acreage behind Discovery College and across from the Abby Church.
“We’re going to start (the story) in Cumberland, not the east coast where we originally wanted to do. That was always my idea. This is a great story set to music … it’s a beautiful score.”
Hyslop acknowledged Dancing In the Coal Dust was always just a working title.
“We got used to it,” he said. “It’s got energy.”
Dancing In the Coal Dust will look at the rich, multi-cultural history of Cumberland and the life and times of Albert “Ginger” Goodwin.
This province’s mining industry was born in the coal fields of Vancouver Island, with the Cumberland mines among the most dangerous in Canada. The appalling conditions in the mines compelled the miners to organize and involve various unions.
Ginger Goodwin was a coal miner and union activist who lost his life under suspicious circumstances in July 1918.
“This is our West Coast version of Anne of Green Gables,” said Hyslop on the musical Dancing In the Coal Dust. “It’s telling a great story and it’s Canadian.”
The play will open during miner’s week in Cumberland for a five-week run. The sixth week of the production will be showcased at Campbell River’s Tidemark Theatre.
The musical will also use the historic ILO ILO theatre for rehearsal space and for the third year, now expanded to two weeks, Showcase’s Young People’s Theatre training program.
The Cumberland production will be integrated with Showcase’s normal repertory of two other productions — the play Our Town and the musical Hello Dolly! Both are by American playwright Thornton Wilder and will be shown in Campbell River and at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay.
“Everyone knows Our Town and Hello Dolly!,” said Hyslop. “Now we have a new work to complement them.”
Coinciding with the musical in Cumberland, artist Brian Scott gave Showcase organizers an idea that they have an artist’s walk involving local artists. There are 12 locations planned, according to Scott, but he expects there will be more visual artists from the village involved.
“We see this as a huge opportunity for Cumberland,” said Dupuis. “If it’s successful, then we’ll do it again.”
A similar artist’s walk was done on Hornby Island, said Scott.
“People can go on a search … it raised $60,000 for Hornby’s Little Arts Council. We can raise a lot of money for Showcase.”
He added, “The arts community (here) are very excited about this.”
The artist’s walk is an active display of creating new work around the historical sites of the village, many of which are included in Dancing In the Coal Dust. The artists will actually be working on the historic sites as part of a tourism and historical “walk” with incumbent map.
The works created by the visual artists will be on display in a gallery on the Showcase Theatre festival site and be available for purchase.
Dupuis likes the idea of adding Cumberland to the Showcase fold. He noted the mandate for Showcase is to operate a theatre company that includes professional performers, talented apprentices and community players.
“Our goal is to hold a world-class festival each summer with a unique approach that presents a variety of theatre productions,” he said. “Our ultimate objective is to develop into a full-fledged professional summer company that will perform several different shows over a season stretching from early June to late September.
“We plan to develop original works with the goal to include those in our season once they have been polished and are ready for production.”
As of Nov. 1, Showcase will begin its fundraising campaign as well as subscription sales, including a three-play package in advance, by direct mail.
• • •
Showcase has done its research when it comes to audience potential.
• An audience survey found the resident audience to be female, 60 and older, semi-retired, with a university education and income of $50,000-plus. While this sounds like the traditional theatre audience, Showcase believes there’s a whole new and exciting Comox Valley resident they have yet to touch.
• There is a further appeal to potential tourists of Asian origin, due to the “coal dust” subject matter and affinity to Anne of Green Gables on the East Coast. Showcase is looking at marketing to tour organizations to make the Comox Valley their destination.
